The battles of Saratoga proved to be a turning point in the Revolutionary War when British forces under the command of General John Burgoyne surrendered to American forces led by General Horatio Gates. The Saratoga Campaign provides a new and greatly expanded understanding of the battles of Saratoga by drawing on the work of scholars in a broad range of academic disciplines. Presenting years of research by material culture scholars, archaeologists, historians, museum curators, military experts, and geophysicists, this definitive volume explores these important Revolutionary War battles and their aftermath, adding a physical and tangible dimension to the story of the Saratoga campaign. Presenting the latest hands-on research, The Saratoga Campaign is an original and multifaceted contribution to our understanding of this critical event in America's birth.

The American Revolution pitted 13 loosely united colonies in a military, political, and economic struggle against Great Britain: the "mother country" and arguably the most powerful state in the world during the late 18th century. The independent spirit that led many individuals to leave homes in Europe and settle in the New World during the 17th and 18th centuries evolved into the drive that persuaded these same settlers and their descendants to challenge the colonial economic and taxation policies of Great Britain, which lead to the armed conflict that resulted in a declaration of independence. This third edition of Historical Dictionary of the American Revolution contains a chronology, an introduction, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has over 1,000 cross-referenced entries on the politics, battles, weaponry, and major personalities of the war. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the American Revolution.

The two battles that were fought in Saratoga, New York in the fall of 1777 marked the turning point in the American Revolutionary War. An inexperienced and improvised American army led by Horatio Gates faced off against the highly trained British and German forces led by "Gentleman Johnny"Burgoyne, whose strategy in confronting the Americans in upstate New York was to separate rebellious New England from the other colonies. Despite inferior organization and training, the Americans were able to exploit access to fresh reinforcements of men and materiel, and ultimately handed theBritish a stunning defeat. For the first time in the war, the American victory confirmed that independence from Great Britain was all but inevitable. Dean Snow's 1777: Tipping Point at Saratoga offers a detailed narrative of the final thirty-three days of the Saratoga campaign. Assimilating historical archaeology and the many letters, journals, and memoirs of the men and women who served in both armies, Snow provides an intimate retelling of thetwo battles. While the contrasting personalities and fates of Gates and Burgoyne are well known, they are but two of the actors who make up the larger drama of Saratoga. Snow highlights famous and less well-known participants alike, from the brave but, later, disloyal officer Benedict Arnold toFrederika von Riedesel, the wife of a major general in the British army whose eyewitness account of the battles is an important source. Snow, an archaeologist who excavated on the Saratoga battlefield, combines a vivid sense of time and place - weather, terrain, technology - with a keenunderstanding of the adversaries' motivations, challenges, and heroism into a narrative that resembles an historical novel. A must-read for anyone with an interest in the American history, 1777 is a thorough and engaging account of the battles that tipped the balance of the American War of Independence.